Ethan Frome Hidden Meanings :: essays papers

Ethan Frome Hidden MeaningsEthan Frome Hidden Meanings Ethan Frome is the tarradiddle of a family caught in a deep-rooted domestic struggle. Ethan Frome is married to his first love Zeena, who becomes chronically ill over their long marriage. Due to his married womans condition, they took the run of Zeenas cousin, Mattie Silver. Mattie seems to be everything that Zeena is not, youthful, energetic, and healthy. Over time Ethan believes that he loves Mattie and wants to leave his wife for her. He struggles with his obligations toward Zeena and his growing love for Mattie. After Zeena discovers their feelings toward each other, she tries to send Mattie away. In an effort to stay together, Ethan and Mattie try to kill themselves by crashing into the elm that they talked or so so many times. Instead, Mattie becomes severely injured and paralyzed. The woman that was everything that Zeena was not became the hardly the same as her. In Ethan Frome, the designer communicates meanin gs in this story with various types. One of the most signifi fecest symbols used in this story is the very setting itself. A symbol is a person, object, or cause that suggests more than its literal meaning. Symbols can be very useful in shedding light on a story, clarifying meaning that cant be expressed with words. It may be hard to pecker symbols at first, but while reflecting on the story or yarn it a second time, the symbol is like a key that fits abruptly into a lock. The reason that symbols work so well is that we can colligate something with a riveicular object. For example, a red rose symbolizes love and passion, and if in that respect were red roses in a story we may associate that part of the story with love. Although many symbols can have simple meanings, such as a red rose, many have more complex meanings and pick up a careful reading to figure out its meaning. The first symbol that I noticed in Ethan Frome is the setting. It plays an important role in t his story. The author spends much of the first few chapters describing the scene in a reinvigorated England town Starkfield. When I think of a town called Starkfield, a gloomy, devoid place with nothing that can grow comes to mind. As the author continues to portray this town, it just reinforces what I had originally thought.